Almost 80 per cent of surfers now on broadband

More than 60 of broadband connections are 2Mbps or slower, while only 2 per cent of connections are faster than 8Mbps.

In December 2006, broadband accounted for 79.2 per cent of all UK internet connections - up from 75.8 per cent in September last year. The number of dial-up connections continues to decline, the study shows, making up the remaining 20.8 per cent.

There are some 16 million internet connections in the UK, with 10 million broadband connections delivered via ADSL over telephone lines. Broadband connections delivered by cable stand are used by around three million UK web users.

The rise in the number of broadband connections has been steady for the past few years: in December 2005, 65.2 per cent of internet connections were broadband, while in December 2004 the figure was 43.7 per cent.